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Just read his three missives on Angel Fire; and just gotta say, wow; sometimes, I just shake my head in amazement and pride when I read what he writes and go, gosh, that's my Dad! And I thought *I* was the sensitive one in the family! LOL... and then I read something else like the road trip movie from AF to the Airport and go, uh, yup, thats my Dad!
ROFL...in 1970 we were going cross country; and somewhere in Montana, he puts a bean bag frog on his head as a hat and stares back at a little old lady as we drive past on the freeway as if beanbag frog hats on nice respectable crewcut USAR Captains were, well, normal. And he wonders where I got so weird from! LOL...warped senses of humor are genetic--just ask us St.Clair kids...
Sounds like Angel Fire was meaningful and moving for all; I am glad. I wore my Angel Fire tee shirt on Memorial Day in support and recognition... I hope some day to make it up there myself whence visiting Mom/Dad/Andy/and the dogs, of course, in Colorado and NM (got friends in Taos).
And, to add to what he related about Mom, I remember to this day being 7 years old watching my Daddy get driven off in a jeep to go to Ramstein AFB to fly off to Nam. It was cold and wintery in Honecken, Germany, outside of K-town. My mother watched out the big plate glass window until he was long gone and cried and cried and cried...I didn't know why, just wanted to comfort her.
Myself, I remember crying when I saw a picture of him from Vietnam, and he had grown a mustache! Somehow, I wanted my original Daddy back. Now, being a rather longhaired, be-bearded, post-hippie, holistic health professional from Eugene, Oregon, myself, I wouldn't mind seeing him in one; it would be distinguished, don't ya think?
Anyway, please forgive my Mom for keeping him from getting there early/going herself, she was a refugee as a child in eastern Europe during WW2 herself and has feelings she prefers best left in the past, for her, lest past traumatic memories revisit--I know you all understand that one. I'll be glad to come some day in support of Dad, tho...
Just FYI, I am a massage therapist/bodyworker here in Eugene; and besides making aching backs feel better, I also work with helping people heal stored emotions/trauma that gets held in the body, which of course can't really be separated from the mind and is how we feel emotion in the first place.
There are some bodyworker/somatic therapists (somatic means bodymind) who have developed very in-depth work for healing trauma on a level of the nervous system, etc, as a compliment to psychotherapy or support group work; and I wish to study with them some day and become more skillful at it, as there certainly is a need for such healing.
If I can help steer anyone in the direction of any interest or help, track down a recommendable, respectful professional, I would be glad to. I don't mean to say anybody needs fixing or lecture; please forgive me if it sounds like it. I realize this list is YOUR space, and I am just a guest visitor. I appreciate all that you guys do to help each other out, having seen it first hand when it really helped. You are truly (and still) the front lines of support for each other.
Thanks again, vets, for all your support when Dad had his bypass surgery back at New Year's; you guys & gals were all such incredible support. All that caring over the airwaves really can make a difference to someone when they need it. (A medical study was done where they compared a large group of patients who were prayed for by strangers, even, and another control group not prayed over, with comparative surgery needs; and the prayed over group healed better, faster!)
Take care, all. Glad that God saw you safely back from over there and safely to AF and home, flat tires, undercooked pumpkin pies, and all...
Don St.Clair,
Humble eldest son number one of honorable father,
Eugene Oregon